My stories and achievements in Special Olympics and how it has impacted me outside of sports too

Carla Simon
Jul 21, 2017 · 7 min read

I first started competing in Special Olympics in 2007 in the first year or two after I got out of high school in search of finding things I could get active in as I didn’t know what else to do. I started off competing in bowling, basketball, tennis, track and field and volleyball. Little did I know after a year or two of competing how much it would change my life. Before I joined Special Olympics, I was shy and I couldn’t drive or really didn’t have the confidence to do a lot of things. Once I joined, I noticed there were athletes with disabilities who could drive and have gone to college, and I thought to myself hey maybe I could try to go to college too, and I did. I graduated from Madison Area Technical College in 2009 with a degree in medical transcription. I also did not drive a car before I joined Special Olympics either due to anxiety plus the fact I struggled with epilepsy my whole life and it was only getting under control around that time. I still had anxiety about trying but my stepdad convinced my mom to let me try as she was not keen on it, lol. I also was nervous about it but some Special Olympics coaches convinced me to give it a shot plus my stepdad did too so I tried. My first try out for a lesson with my stepdad went ok as I went out and drove in some lots by a graveyard, only issue was I bumped into a tree once. After a few lessons, I went and took my written test and I passed that on the first try. I took some more lessons from my stepdad then and then after a month I went and took the real driver’s test back in 2009. I did not pass the driver’s test the first time but I did the 2nd time and I have been driving ever since. In 2011 I moved to Arizona, and this is where I really started to thrive or achieve more than I ever could imagine by being in Special Olympics too. My first year in Special Olympics in Arizona I competed in traditional basketball, track and field, tennis, bocce ball, and bowling. I then started getting involved in more other sports including swimming, unified volleyball, unified basketball, speedskating, floor hockey, and flag football among many other things in Special Olympics. I can tell you a memorable story in speedskating too that sticks with tons of people. Back in 2012, I was competing at the Special Olympics Arizona State Winter games in Flagstaff and I think I was skating the 111 m and once the whistle blew and we took off I had tripped and fell and scraped chin. I didn’t even know this had happened and I got right back up and ended up passing another skater and taking the silver medal and once I crossed I had people telling me my chin was bleeding. I would not have known as it did not hurt or I had enough adrenaline to not feel a thing. I had to have at least 8 stitches in my chin after I got my silver medal. I wanted to complete the rest of my events being I follow that motto Brave in the Attempt and if I could have I would have too but of course I listened to doctors orders and others orders not to. I had to miss the 333 and 500 events I was going to do. I also had to miss competing in floor hockey at those games but the positive of Special Olympics too is there are other things available for us to do, and I ended up staying up there and helped assist the floor hockey team I played on. There are other achievements and stories I could talk about too like the time in golf I accidentally hit one of my coaches in unified golf with a golf shot when was teeing off at our area games and me and him joked saying I meant to him it at him, lol. In 2013 I was picked too to compete on the Team Arizona unified volleyball team that traveled to Kentucky to compete in the unified national volleyball championships. Our team took silver in those games. It was a memorable year too and sad one at that. The reason it was memorable is it was the only national competition my mom got to see me bring home a medal from. She passed away only a week or two after I got home from those games. It was also only a couple of months before that that I had found out I was picked to compete in the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey in track and field. I could have said no to competing in New Jersey after I lost my mom as it did take a toll on my mentally and physically and sometimes I look back and wonder if I should have as I had a lot of issues mentally that affected others, but I know my mom would have been proud of me choosing to go and what I went and accomplished at those games. I ended up winning a gold in the softball throw, silver in the 100 meter walk, silver in the 50 meter dash, and 5th place in the 50 meter walk. I made a lot of new friends at those games, and I brought back tons of pins and shirts and made tons of memories. In 2015 I went with our athlete input council and leadership groups to go check out the Special Olympics Summer World games in Los Angeles, California, and I also was a participant in the games too as I ran in the unified world games half marathon. All in all I made tons of friends at those games too and I got to meet a ton of celebrities there even. I met singer/guitarist Carlos Santana, LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers, among some other guests who were there. I met a few friends from other countries too and a couple new friends who competed for Team USA too. I made a lot of friends with a lot of the coaches too. I ended up bringing home a unified world games gold medal too for finishing the half marathon. It was totally fun, although I still was not myself either then and I don’t know if it was the best time for me to be going over there either being I still was going through grief from losing my mom. The grief took a toll on me as I lost tons of weight. In the beginning the weight I wanted to lose was to train and be fit for the Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey but then I lost too much. Little did I know how much of an impact in a good way though training for the USA Games in New Jersey would have too on me. I trained so hard for those games that I gained the endurance to start running distance races and that is how I got to being able to run in the half marathon at the Special Olympics world games as it was the training for New Jersey that got me the energy to be able to do that. My first half marathon was a few months before that when I ran in the Rock and Roll San Diego half marathon. Total I now have ran over 45 5Ks, 15 10Ks, 4 15Ks, 35 half marathons, 1 30Ks, and 3 full marathons. I still plan on running even more too as I am going to do my first ultra marathon in September and I got a few other half marathons scheduled and am doing another full marathon in December in San Antonio, Texas. If it wasn’t for Special Olympics, I wouldn’t have the confidence to run these things. I heard stories about other athletes doing these things and have even met other Special Olympics athletes through my journey of running distance and it just has helped me gain more confidence to run these things. It is what helped me run my first full marathon this year too and I have ran 3 total this year now. Special Olympics has helped teach me leadership skills also as I have went tons of places to tell my story. I shared my story last year at the Special Olympics International Torch Run when it was held in Phoenix AZ. I also shared a bit of my story this year at our Special Olympics State Leadership conference. Special Olympics has helped me too with building friendships not just inside competitions but outside of them too. I have the confidence now to ask friends if they want to hang out or I invite them to birthday parties. I also have learned a lot of sportsmanship skills also. In sports I always help a person up if they fall. I also will not get out of the pool or off the track until the last person finishes because Special Olympics to me is about sportsmanship and being a good sport too. I count my totals of medals through the years and I have won over 100 medals in Special Olympics and over 100 in running as well. I have won so many now that for me medals don’t matter any more and either does winning as much as having fun and getting the exercise. This is what Special Olympics has taught me and what I have been able to accomplish through the years of competing and participating inside and outside of my sports.

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